Post by Bruce Tackett on Jun 4, 2018 1:26:38 GMT
Douglis:
Sample workouts:
It 's been almost two years(April 2007) since i discovered VRT and i'd like to make a review to all the routines and experiments i did.Not that i believe i have done something great that is worth written but i want to remember anytime the results each routine gave me and also to answer to same mails i received.Also i think it's the right time to start a training log since i want to experiment on something new. First of all my stats:i'm 6'3" and two years ago i was 202 lbs with 16%BF.Now i'm 220lbs with 11%BF.
This was my routine for my first VRT year(April 2007-Feb 2008):
Day 1:wide grip pullups 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 2:bench press 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 3:squats 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
All exercises(VRT style of course) done positive only with maximum tension.I know it's a minimalist approach but if i applied max tension i didn't feel the need and couldn't do more.On day 4 i started the cycle again.
From March 2008 to August 2008 i changed the things a little:
Day 1:bent over rows and triceps push downs each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 2:military press and stiff legged dead lifts each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 3:squats 3 sets of 10-12 reps Day 4:chest flies 3 sets of 10-12 reps
From September 2008 to November 2008:
Day 1:wide grip pullups,bent over rows and triceps push downs each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 2:chest flies and stiff legged dead lifts each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps,pushups with DVR tension 2 sets to failure
Day 3:leg presses iso power flexes I had to give up squats because of terrible knee pain.
From December 2008 to January 2009:
Day 1:wide grip pullups and stiff legged dead lifts iso power flexes
Day 2:chest flies iso power flexes and DVR pushups
Day 3:leg presses iso power flexes My iso power flexes are one set of 10-12 six seconds maximum isometric contractions at various angles of ROM.
From February 2009 to yesterday:
Day 1:wide grip pullups and triceps push downs each from 2 sets of 20reps(the first) and 15 reps(the second)
Day 2:chest flies from 2 sets of 20reps(the first) and 15 reps(the second)
Day 3:leg presses iso power flexes
Super sets:
3 supersets of wide grip pullups/bent over rows.
I did 3 supersets of chest crossovers/chest flies. Each superset consists 6 reps from the first exercises followed immediately from 6 reps of the second. I take 30 secs rest between supersets. The burning sensation and the pump is incredible. I consider it a perfect workout for both chest and delts(antagonist muscle).
Written after a month or so of supersets:
There's something i don't like at my current workout.I think it's too taxing for the CNS and leaves me exhausted after training. I think i'll return to a more simplistic approach. I'll choose 4-5 exercises that hit the whole body (something like my big 3 of VRT) and i'll do them in brief and intense split routine. Instead of counting on supersets to elevate intensity i'll try to make every rep count by applying maximum effort rep after rep. In other words back to basics!!!
Rest between sets:
I'd like to say a few words about the rest between sets. I try to keep rest as short as possible (less than 30 sec) because this way i believe i get better hormonal response from the exercises and also get a cardio effect at the same time. In simple words with short rest the exercises become much more intense. If someone's goal though is strength i'd suggest longer rest. This way my workouts rarely last more than 10 min. But even if i wanted i don't think i could train more with max tension. In fact i believe that anyone who trains more than 15 min he doesn't train hard enough.
Exercise selection:
A few words for VRT exercise selection. I post them here and not at Greg's place because i don't want to tire viewers with so many details. When we select exercises we must choose those that cause the best anabolic response and are more productive for us. This depends on the number of muscles each exercise engages and the degree of activation of those muscles.With VRT the most exercises engage many muscle groups(agonosts+antagonists) so the key element is to find the exercises that cause the highest degree of activation. For example VRT wide grip pullups and VRT shoulder press(positive only of course) engage exactly the same muscle groups but the first activates both the back and the shoulders at a very high degree while in the second only the shoulders contract maximally. The same for VRT chest crossovers and VRT side leterals. The first activates chest and side delts very good while the second only the side delts.
Generally the rule for exercise selection must be the big muscle groups to contract positve as agonists and the small to contract negative as antagonists.This way both agonists and antagonists contract at maximum degree with all the related anabolic benefits. It's not wrong if you don't follow that rule but i think it makes the workouts more productive.
A few words for the one directional-bi directional debate. For me one directional or positive only is clearly superior. Since VRT works muscle groups in pairs going bi-directional fatigues the smaller muscle first leaving the bigger unexercised. To take things one step further i believe that we only have to go positive only for the big muscle groups and leave the braking force do the job for the small ones.
Leg exercises:
I found that is better for leg exercises not to count reps but to keep doing them till the muscle burning sensation. Maybe i'll try that for the upper body too.
Expectations:
A few words for expectations from VRT. VRT can give you excellent size gains and very good strength gains. Just don't have the wrong expectations. I consider it more of a bodybuilding method. Although you'll get stronger don't expect to squat 500lbs or be able to do 30 pullups with VRT alone. These moves require other things,beside strength,like technique,taking advantage of the momentum,synergistic muscles etc. Those other things are needless in bodybuilding. That's why i consider it more of a bodybuilding method.
Anyway i think it's a great method and everyone should try it alone or not.
My kind of vanity is size and VRT is perfect for me. If my kind of vanity was to do 30 pull-ups i would do a combination of real and imaginary pull-ups.
Direct shoulder work:
I rarely do any direct shoulders workout but now i want to empasize on delts a little so i plan to to stick with VRT military press for the next couple of months. That means that i have to drop VRT wide grip pull-ups from my back workout or else the delts will overtrain for sure. I'll replace them with VRT bent over rows.
plan to add a fourth set to all my exercises next week. I've always been a HIT fan probably because when i was training with weights anything more than 1-2 sets would lead to overtraining. Now with VRT i think i can tolerate more volume and to my surprise i get better results.
Nerve force:
There is nothing metaphysical about KSHD. You don't need "nerve force" to do it. I will try to explain. I 'm sure everybody have no problem with KSHD bicep curls. That's because the triceps are bigger muscle than biceps and can easily provide the braking force.
But what happens with KSHD pullups where you're opposing lats(bigger)with delts(smaller)? Generally the negative movement is 30% stronger than the positive so one could think the delts will do the job. The problem is that with convetional training the emphasis is in the positive part and the negative is always neglected. So nobody has ever trained his muscles to contract eccentrically and you may find it difficult to provide braking force,at least for the big muscles.
The good news are that the muscles get stronger in the negative contraction much faster than the positive (yes,there are studies for this Park1) and in 2 or 3 months i think everybody would be able to pump any muscle in the body.
Shen,this is why you have to "believe" in KSHD.
That's something very common with VRT. The eccentric contraction of the antagonists muscles(the resistance in simple terms) gets stronger very fast and the exercise "feels" better workout by workout. That's why some say that you have to "believe" in VRT in order to make it work. I prefer to understand the mechanism rather than believe in anything but whatever works for everyone is fine.
VRT
Pre-exhaust:
No,I'm not talking about the one-directional vs bi-directional debate. I'm not even talking about supersets between different muscle groups.
I'm talking about what we (ex-ironheads) were fimiliar as pre-exhaust sets. I think this method (and all the HIT principles as Royce noted many times) fits perfectly with KSHD.
For example,do one set of wide grip pullups(10-12 reps). Your lats (agonist) and your middle delts (antagonist) are now exhausted.Immediately do one set of rows (the antagonist now is front delt and chest) and feel the burn in your lats since the braking force is now fresh.
I'm talking about 2 positive only sets one after another.
Other options are: side leterals and military press for the shoulders,flies and bench press for the chest and you can try combinations for all muscle groups.
In fact I think pre-exhaust sets (and all the HIT principles) work even better in KSHD than weight training since it's not so easy to lead to overtraining.
All the HIT principles fit perfectly to KSHD but this particular one is my favourite. For those who are not familiar,pre-exhaustion are supersets for the same muscle group.
For example if you do 6 max tension reps of wide grip pullups the middle delts(antagonist muscle) pre-exhaust the back. Now continue immediately with 6 reps of bent over rows. The antagonist muscle (front delt and chest) is now fresh and can give a very good finishing to the already fatigued back.
Another example is chest crossovers/chest flies.In the first exercise the braking force is provided by the middle delts and traps(chest pre-exhausted) while in the second by the rear delts and middle back(chest finished).
I'm sure everyone can find many combinations for every muscle group and i think that the KSHD version of this method is much milder for the CNS.
20 rep sets:
A couple of months ago Shen came to the conclusion that 20 reps give better results at the KSHD arm exercises.
This was my conclusion too but ,like Shen,i found it too stenuous for the rest of the body to do more than 10 reps with maximum tension.
But i didn't give up and i continued to push all my sets from 10 reps the first week to 12 the next and then 14 etc...
Now i can do 20 reps with maximum tension at all my KSHD sets. The burning sensation is unbelievable and the "pump" better than ever.
I'm sure the results will be obvious the next months.
Royce,
I agree that with each completed rep the force level will gradually decrease.
I view 20 reps KSHD as the equivalent of drop sets and not as higher reps training. With drop sets (20 reps KSHD too) you're called to put maximum effort from the beginning while with higher reps only at the end of the set.
I know that drop sets are not the best approach for strength gains but are excellent for hypertrophy.
Shen,
I have exactly the same experience with you. I'm pushing the arms to 20 reps to produce the "mega-pump" but I find it too strenuous for the rest of the body.
I have a theory for this. In KSHD,if you count the antagonist muscles,you use more muscle than conventional training(Park1 disagrees with that).
That results blood occlusion in more parts of the body. In the arms training that's not a big problem since arms are relatively small muscle. But in bench press for example the blood is occluded in a very large part of the body,if you count the co-contraction of agonists-antagonists,and that makes it difficult to catch your breath.
The bad thing about it is that is hard to do more than 10-12 reps and go for the burn.(although I found some tricks for that)
The good news are that every exercise that makes it hard to catch your breath push the body to release large amounts of HGH(human growth hormone) and this is the best thing you can expect from an exercise.
Nautilus pullover:
Yesterday Viking Dan and Royce were discussing at Greg's place about Nautilus pullover. I felt stupid that i had completely forgotten this great exercise.
I tried today for the first time in KSHD style and hit the lats really hard. Nautilus pullover will definitely be a part of my workout from now.
I hear from many people (i think Preacher too) that they have problem feeling their back with KSHD. Maybe this is the right exercise for them.
P.S. For those who want to give it a try,remember not to tense your biceps. Just imagine that you're pushing with your elbows down.
DVR Pushups:
I 'm sure it has been discussed before but adding dvr resistance to pushups is the best thing i've ever done for my chest. You can use tension in both ways with this one. I feel sorry for the time i wasted in my teens when i was doing hundreds of pushups a day.
My approach is very similar to royce's as this was the way i was lifting weights. KSHD squats work for me very well. After a 20rep dvr squat set i can barely walk. When i combine BW with KSHD i use tension in both ways. With pure KSHD only positive. Since you don't train to failure with KSHD training 3 times a week is fine for me.
Capt Kronos: If anyone wants to try this, I believe you'll feel the difference. If you are into KSHD pushups (standing press outs), try it like this, and I think you'll notice the lats become much more involved, along with the trapezius. Instead of starting elbows down near your ribs, flare them out to the sides, so upper arms are parallel to the ground, hands open in a claw type fashion. Now press out, keeping the elbows flared out. This is similar in function to the "Gironda" dip I think. You can tweak the move by twisting the "claws" as you press forward and move the hands toward the centerline of the body, this will focus more on the inner chest. BTW, you can also do KSHD Gironda dips which are great also.
The way you describe is more like standing bench press and you're right that the lats are engaged more(as antagonists muscles).Try bent your back to avoid early fatigue of the delts.
Douglis: I don't do KDHD pushups like standing press outs. I do them like regular pushups but I add KSHD tension by imagining I have a very heavy object on my back. This way even for a guy who can do easily 50 regular pushups it's hard to do 6-8 reps.
VRT pec dec 2X10 DVR push-ups 1 set to failure I started doing DVR push-ups again. I believe that is by far the most effective way to perform push-ups. In fact are so effective that my chest grew overproportionally and i had to replace them with VRT flies for my chest workout so my middle back and rear delts catch the progress.
Yesterday i talked about DVR push-ups which i consider them as the best exercise if you want to emphasize to your chest. But i believe the best exercise for overall upper body development is VRT wide grip pull-ups. The resistance that is provided by the shoulders fits perfectly to the strength of the back and both muscle groups can have an excellent workout.
For the majority of people a minimalist routine is all they need. You just have to find an exercise for each big muscle group and do sets with intensity. Unless you're a competitive bodybuilder it's really pointless to hit the chest from 4 different angles.
KSHD has the extra benefit that works muscles in pairs and cuts the required exercises in half. I really believe that 3-4 KSHD exercises is all everyone needs.
Clenched fists:
I too wanted to talk about the clenched fists thing.
I don't clench my fists at rows and flies but I keep them clenched at shoulder press. I found that this way I can focus better at my lats and chest(no problem with delts). Also as you said the arms have more days to rest.
I try to keep the intensity as high as possible at every set.
Rep speed:
Hi Veg....I prefer faster reps. The slower reps put the antagonists in longer negative contractions and makes it harder to recover. Remember...the key in KSHD is to keep the delts(the antagonists in most exercises) fresh.
Broom exercises:
Here're a few very versatile and effective exercises with the help of a broomstick that I discovered a few years ago and I believe that can help you do a very decent upper body workout.
First a very good shoulders exercise. Hold a broomstick above your head(at shoulders width) and try to "compress" it with all your force. While keeping the tension move your arms in arcs to your left and to your right. The one arm tries to move while the other tries to resist. After a few reps you will feel your delts burning.
Now an exercise for your lats. With exactly the same position and motion try "stretch" the broomstick instead of "compress" it(obviously a towel can work as well). Besides your lats your triceps get a very good isometric workout.
For your chest...hold the broomstick in front of you and again try to "compress" it and move your arms in arcs to your left and to your right. By changing the height at which you hold the broomstick you hit different parts of your chest. The higher you hold it the more the upper chest is engaged while the lower you hold it the more the lower chest is used.
Your biceps also get an excellent isometric workout.
With exactly the same position and motion as the chest exercise...if you try to "stretch" the broomstick you use your rear or middle delts(depending on the height you hold the broomstick) and middle back(romboids...middle traps etc).
That's it! With only four exercise you can get a very good upper body workout.
I haven't found yet anything for the lower body but what's the point? Pistols offer the most effective and versatile way to train your legs.
Most of the times I do the exercises in different days in 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Hey...it seems that someone else had the same ideas with me. Well...almost the same.
idaimakaya.com/broomstickexercises.aspx
He's one step behind me. He performs the exercises only isometrically.I believe he misses 50% of their effectiveness this way. When you perform them dynamically you also get the benefits of the eccentric contractions(the soreness that is created have some benefits) and of course you train the muscles through full ROM.
The Broomstick Training community loses a great and very promising member!
When I first tried the exercises I also had some problem with my elbows but when I started doing them with slightly bent elbows the problem solved. I mean maybe you can find a better angle that doesn't irritate your shoulders.
But I guess it's better to stick with a training that is known that doesn't cause any problem.
Sample workouts:
It 's been almost two years(April 2007) since i discovered VRT and i'd like to make a review to all the routines and experiments i did.Not that i believe i have done something great that is worth written but i want to remember anytime the results each routine gave me and also to answer to same mails i received.Also i think it's the right time to start a training log since i want to experiment on something new. First of all my stats:i'm 6'3" and two years ago i was 202 lbs with 16%BF.Now i'm 220lbs with 11%BF.
This was my routine for my first VRT year(April 2007-Feb 2008):
Day 1:wide grip pullups 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 2:bench press 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 3:squats 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
All exercises(VRT style of course) done positive only with maximum tension.I know it's a minimalist approach but if i applied max tension i didn't feel the need and couldn't do more.On day 4 i started the cycle again.
From March 2008 to August 2008 i changed the things a little:
Day 1:bent over rows and triceps push downs each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 2:military press and stiff legged dead lifts each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 3:squats 3 sets of 10-12 reps Day 4:chest flies 3 sets of 10-12 reps
From September 2008 to November 2008:
Day 1:wide grip pullups,bent over rows and triceps push downs each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Day 2:chest flies and stiff legged dead lifts each from 3 sets of 10-12 reps,pushups with DVR tension 2 sets to failure
Day 3:leg presses iso power flexes I had to give up squats because of terrible knee pain.
From December 2008 to January 2009:
Day 1:wide grip pullups and stiff legged dead lifts iso power flexes
Day 2:chest flies iso power flexes and DVR pushups
Day 3:leg presses iso power flexes My iso power flexes are one set of 10-12 six seconds maximum isometric contractions at various angles of ROM.
From February 2009 to yesterday:
Day 1:wide grip pullups and triceps push downs each from 2 sets of 20reps(the first) and 15 reps(the second)
Day 2:chest flies from 2 sets of 20reps(the first) and 15 reps(the second)
Day 3:leg presses iso power flexes
Super sets:
3 supersets of wide grip pullups/bent over rows.
I did 3 supersets of chest crossovers/chest flies. Each superset consists 6 reps from the first exercises followed immediately from 6 reps of the second. I take 30 secs rest between supersets. The burning sensation and the pump is incredible. I consider it a perfect workout for both chest and delts(antagonist muscle).
Written after a month or so of supersets:
There's something i don't like at my current workout.I think it's too taxing for the CNS and leaves me exhausted after training. I think i'll return to a more simplistic approach. I'll choose 4-5 exercises that hit the whole body (something like my big 3 of VRT) and i'll do them in brief and intense split routine. Instead of counting on supersets to elevate intensity i'll try to make every rep count by applying maximum effort rep after rep. In other words back to basics!!!
Rest between sets:
I'd like to say a few words about the rest between sets. I try to keep rest as short as possible (less than 30 sec) because this way i believe i get better hormonal response from the exercises and also get a cardio effect at the same time. In simple words with short rest the exercises become much more intense. If someone's goal though is strength i'd suggest longer rest. This way my workouts rarely last more than 10 min. But even if i wanted i don't think i could train more with max tension. In fact i believe that anyone who trains more than 15 min he doesn't train hard enough.
Exercise selection:
A few words for VRT exercise selection. I post them here and not at Greg's place because i don't want to tire viewers with so many details. When we select exercises we must choose those that cause the best anabolic response and are more productive for us. This depends on the number of muscles each exercise engages and the degree of activation of those muscles.With VRT the most exercises engage many muscle groups(agonosts+antagonists) so the key element is to find the exercises that cause the highest degree of activation. For example VRT wide grip pullups and VRT shoulder press(positive only of course) engage exactly the same muscle groups but the first activates both the back and the shoulders at a very high degree while in the second only the shoulders contract maximally. The same for VRT chest crossovers and VRT side leterals. The first activates chest and side delts very good while the second only the side delts.
Generally the rule for exercise selection must be the big muscle groups to contract positve as agonists and the small to contract negative as antagonists.This way both agonists and antagonists contract at maximum degree with all the related anabolic benefits. It's not wrong if you don't follow that rule but i think it makes the workouts more productive.
A few words for the one directional-bi directional debate. For me one directional or positive only is clearly superior. Since VRT works muscle groups in pairs going bi-directional fatigues the smaller muscle first leaving the bigger unexercised. To take things one step further i believe that we only have to go positive only for the big muscle groups and leave the braking force do the job for the small ones.
Leg exercises:
I found that is better for leg exercises not to count reps but to keep doing them till the muscle burning sensation. Maybe i'll try that for the upper body too.
Expectations:
A few words for expectations from VRT. VRT can give you excellent size gains and very good strength gains. Just don't have the wrong expectations. I consider it more of a bodybuilding method. Although you'll get stronger don't expect to squat 500lbs or be able to do 30 pullups with VRT alone. These moves require other things,beside strength,like technique,taking advantage of the momentum,synergistic muscles etc. Those other things are needless in bodybuilding. That's why i consider it more of a bodybuilding method.
Anyway i think it's a great method and everyone should try it alone or not.
My kind of vanity is size and VRT is perfect for me. If my kind of vanity was to do 30 pull-ups i would do a combination of real and imaginary pull-ups.
Direct shoulder work:
I rarely do any direct shoulders workout but now i want to empasize on delts a little so i plan to to stick with VRT military press for the next couple of months. That means that i have to drop VRT wide grip pull-ups from my back workout or else the delts will overtrain for sure. I'll replace them with VRT bent over rows.
plan to add a fourth set to all my exercises next week. I've always been a HIT fan probably because when i was training with weights anything more than 1-2 sets would lead to overtraining. Now with VRT i think i can tolerate more volume and to my surprise i get better results.
Nerve force:
There is nothing metaphysical about KSHD. You don't need "nerve force" to do it. I will try to explain. I 'm sure everybody have no problem with KSHD bicep curls. That's because the triceps are bigger muscle than biceps and can easily provide the braking force.
But what happens with KSHD pullups where you're opposing lats(bigger)with delts(smaller)? Generally the negative movement is 30% stronger than the positive so one could think the delts will do the job. The problem is that with convetional training the emphasis is in the positive part and the negative is always neglected. So nobody has ever trained his muscles to contract eccentrically and you may find it difficult to provide braking force,at least for the big muscles.
The good news are that the muscles get stronger in the negative contraction much faster than the positive (yes,there are studies for this Park1) and in 2 or 3 months i think everybody would be able to pump any muscle in the body.
Shen,this is why you have to "believe" in KSHD.
That's something very common with VRT. The eccentric contraction of the antagonists muscles(the resistance in simple terms) gets stronger very fast and the exercise "feels" better workout by workout. That's why some say that you have to "believe" in VRT in order to make it work. I prefer to understand the mechanism rather than believe in anything but whatever works for everyone is fine.
VRT
Pre-exhaust:
No,I'm not talking about the one-directional vs bi-directional debate. I'm not even talking about supersets between different muscle groups.
I'm talking about what we (ex-ironheads) were fimiliar as pre-exhaust sets. I think this method (and all the HIT principles as Royce noted many times) fits perfectly with KSHD.
For example,do one set of wide grip pullups(10-12 reps). Your lats (agonist) and your middle delts (antagonist) are now exhausted.Immediately do one set of rows (the antagonist now is front delt and chest) and feel the burn in your lats since the braking force is now fresh.
I'm talking about 2 positive only sets one after another.
Other options are: side leterals and military press for the shoulders,flies and bench press for the chest and you can try combinations for all muscle groups.
In fact I think pre-exhaust sets (and all the HIT principles) work even better in KSHD than weight training since it's not so easy to lead to overtraining.
All the HIT principles fit perfectly to KSHD but this particular one is my favourite. For those who are not familiar,pre-exhaustion are supersets for the same muscle group.
For example if you do 6 max tension reps of wide grip pullups the middle delts(antagonist muscle) pre-exhaust the back. Now continue immediately with 6 reps of bent over rows. The antagonist muscle (front delt and chest) is now fresh and can give a very good finishing to the already fatigued back.
Another example is chest crossovers/chest flies.In the first exercise the braking force is provided by the middle delts and traps(chest pre-exhausted) while in the second by the rear delts and middle back(chest finished).
I'm sure everyone can find many combinations for every muscle group and i think that the KSHD version of this method is much milder for the CNS.
20 rep sets:
A couple of months ago Shen came to the conclusion that 20 reps give better results at the KSHD arm exercises.
This was my conclusion too but ,like Shen,i found it too stenuous for the rest of the body to do more than 10 reps with maximum tension.
But i didn't give up and i continued to push all my sets from 10 reps the first week to 12 the next and then 14 etc...
Now i can do 20 reps with maximum tension at all my KSHD sets. The burning sensation is unbelievable and the "pump" better than ever.
I'm sure the results will be obvious the next months.
Royce,
I agree that with each completed rep the force level will gradually decrease.
I view 20 reps KSHD as the equivalent of drop sets and not as higher reps training. With drop sets (20 reps KSHD too) you're called to put maximum effort from the beginning while with higher reps only at the end of the set.
I know that drop sets are not the best approach for strength gains but are excellent for hypertrophy.
Shen,
I have exactly the same experience with you. I'm pushing the arms to 20 reps to produce the "mega-pump" but I find it too strenuous for the rest of the body.
I have a theory for this. In KSHD,if you count the antagonist muscles,you use more muscle than conventional training(Park1 disagrees with that).
That results blood occlusion in more parts of the body. In the arms training that's not a big problem since arms are relatively small muscle. But in bench press for example the blood is occluded in a very large part of the body,if you count the co-contraction of agonists-antagonists,and that makes it difficult to catch your breath.
The bad thing about it is that is hard to do more than 10-12 reps and go for the burn.(although I found some tricks for that)
The good news are that every exercise that makes it hard to catch your breath push the body to release large amounts of HGH(human growth hormone) and this is the best thing you can expect from an exercise.
Nautilus pullover:
Yesterday Viking Dan and Royce were discussing at Greg's place about Nautilus pullover. I felt stupid that i had completely forgotten this great exercise.
I tried today for the first time in KSHD style and hit the lats really hard. Nautilus pullover will definitely be a part of my workout from now.
I hear from many people (i think Preacher too) that they have problem feeling their back with KSHD. Maybe this is the right exercise for them.
P.S. For those who want to give it a try,remember not to tense your biceps. Just imagine that you're pushing with your elbows down.
DVR Pushups:
I 'm sure it has been discussed before but adding dvr resistance to pushups is the best thing i've ever done for my chest. You can use tension in both ways with this one. I feel sorry for the time i wasted in my teens when i was doing hundreds of pushups a day.
My approach is very similar to royce's as this was the way i was lifting weights. KSHD squats work for me very well. After a 20rep dvr squat set i can barely walk. When i combine BW with KSHD i use tension in both ways. With pure KSHD only positive. Since you don't train to failure with KSHD training 3 times a week is fine for me.
Capt Kronos: If anyone wants to try this, I believe you'll feel the difference. If you are into KSHD pushups (standing press outs), try it like this, and I think you'll notice the lats become much more involved, along with the trapezius. Instead of starting elbows down near your ribs, flare them out to the sides, so upper arms are parallel to the ground, hands open in a claw type fashion. Now press out, keeping the elbows flared out. This is similar in function to the "Gironda" dip I think. You can tweak the move by twisting the "claws" as you press forward and move the hands toward the centerline of the body, this will focus more on the inner chest. BTW, you can also do KSHD Gironda dips which are great also.
The way you describe is more like standing bench press and you're right that the lats are engaged more(as antagonists muscles).Try bent your back to avoid early fatigue of the delts.
Douglis: I don't do KDHD pushups like standing press outs. I do them like regular pushups but I add KSHD tension by imagining I have a very heavy object on my back. This way even for a guy who can do easily 50 regular pushups it's hard to do 6-8 reps.
VRT pec dec 2X10 DVR push-ups 1 set to failure I started doing DVR push-ups again. I believe that is by far the most effective way to perform push-ups. In fact are so effective that my chest grew overproportionally and i had to replace them with VRT flies for my chest workout so my middle back and rear delts catch the progress.
Yesterday i talked about DVR push-ups which i consider them as the best exercise if you want to emphasize to your chest. But i believe the best exercise for overall upper body development is VRT wide grip pull-ups. The resistance that is provided by the shoulders fits perfectly to the strength of the back and both muscle groups can have an excellent workout.
For the majority of people a minimalist routine is all they need. You just have to find an exercise for each big muscle group and do sets with intensity. Unless you're a competitive bodybuilder it's really pointless to hit the chest from 4 different angles.
KSHD has the extra benefit that works muscles in pairs and cuts the required exercises in half. I really believe that 3-4 KSHD exercises is all everyone needs.
Clenched fists:
I too wanted to talk about the clenched fists thing.
I don't clench my fists at rows and flies but I keep them clenched at shoulder press. I found that this way I can focus better at my lats and chest(no problem with delts). Also as you said the arms have more days to rest.
I try to keep the intensity as high as possible at every set.
Rep speed:
Hi Veg....I prefer faster reps. The slower reps put the antagonists in longer negative contractions and makes it harder to recover. Remember...the key in KSHD is to keep the delts(the antagonists in most exercises) fresh.
Broom exercises:
Here're a few very versatile and effective exercises with the help of a broomstick that I discovered a few years ago and I believe that can help you do a very decent upper body workout.
First a very good shoulders exercise. Hold a broomstick above your head(at shoulders width) and try to "compress" it with all your force. While keeping the tension move your arms in arcs to your left and to your right. The one arm tries to move while the other tries to resist. After a few reps you will feel your delts burning.
Now an exercise for your lats. With exactly the same position and motion try "stretch" the broomstick instead of "compress" it(obviously a towel can work as well). Besides your lats your triceps get a very good isometric workout.
For your chest...hold the broomstick in front of you and again try to "compress" it and move your arms in arcs to your left and to your right. By changing the height at which you hold the broomstick you hit different parts of your chest. The higher you hold it the more the upper chest is engaged while the lower you hold it the more the lower chest is used.
Your biceps also get an excellent isometric workout.
With exactly the same position and motion as the chest exercise...if you try to "stretch" the broomstick you use your rear or middle delts(depending on the height you hold the broomstick) and middle back(romboids...middle traps etc).
That's it! With only four exercise you can get a very good upper body workout.
I haven't found yet anything for the lower body but what's the point? Pistols offer the most effective and versatile way to train your legs.
Most of the times I do the exercises in different days in 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Hey...it seems that someone else had the same ideas with me. Well...almost the same.
idaimakaya.com/broomstickexercises.aspx
He's one step behind me. He performs the exercises only isometrically.I believe he misses 50% of their effectiveness this way. When you perform them dynamically you also get the benefits of the eccentric contractions(the soreness that is created have some benefits) and of course you train the muscles through full ROM.
The Broomstick Training community loses a great and very promising member!
When I first tried the exercises I also had some problem with my elbows but when I started doing them with slightly bent elbows the problem solved. I mean maybe you can find a better angle that doesn't irritate your shoulders.
But I guess it's better to stick with a training that is known that doesn't cause any problem.
